Although I have read the comments from others that had issues with the marathon, I found it to be the second best I have run. My wife and I stayed at a hotel which was 2 blocks from the start so we did not have the driving or parking issues that some others had. I found the water and gatoraid stops plentiful and well staffed. The bands were numerous and compared well with Disney and Fargo. The course was flat except for the surprise hill at around 23, when I was ready to just run on autopilot. The food at the finish was great, better than many, but finding a place to sit was difficult. Overall, a great experience that I would enjoy doing again.

I was actually glad we started late as the parking was awful. I left hotel early and found it ridiculous in trying to get there. I get the closures but with every detour, signs should have posted 'Marathon Parking This Way.' Being from out of town made it difficult to manuver with any kind of confidense. Once I found it, there was 50 minutes of wait - leaving was just as w much oof a cluster. I did love the run - every aspect of it. Just the coming and going.

This was my first full marathon organized by RnR, but I have done several of their half marathons and always was impressed.

PROS:
-Gatorade, no nasty Cytomax!
-The bands and cheer squads really put on quite a show for the runners. Special shouts out to the animal themed cheer squad and the disco party squad
-Separate courses for the full and half. I never had any issues with the course being too crowded.
-Flat and fast course. There were a few inclines, but seriously, no hills. If you thought those were hills, wow, just wow.
-Nice gender specific tech shirts, nice medal, and a little sport bag to use as your gear check bag.
-I was dropped off at the start and didn't have any traffic or parking issues. In fact, my husband found parking right next to my corral, like a block away. I also appreciated that when the start was delayed, they let us know what was really going on.
-Expo was big with lots of free samples and good deals.
-I finished over 5 hours, and there was still tons of post-race food for me. Bagels, smoothies, froyo, energy bars and water.

CONS:
-The post race concert started at 11 am. The race didn't start until 8 am but the course was open until 3 pm (7 hours). Clearly the main event was geared for the half marathon finishers, 'cause there were a lot of people still running the marathon when the B-52s started their show.
-Would rather the shirt not be white! But that is it, it really was a top notch event.

I was the second runner on the 1/2 marathon relay. I knew 20k plus runners will start the same time so I got to lot 59 by 5:30 with no parking problems. The race program said there will be shuttles at rio salado & Packard drive by 6:30 to take the 250 or so runners to skysong (mile 6.5) where the relay point was. No one knew what a relay was. No info was given to any volunteer, security person or anyone with a radio. When asked 'where are the shuttles?' the response was, 'there are no shuttles this year, just take the light rail.' There are no light rail tracks into Scottsdale! By 7am I was so pissed I drove up to Scottsdale road & McDowell myself. I took another relay runner from out of town with me. There were only about 12 of us at the relay point when the first runner carrying a drumstick arrived. It was so sad to see them standing there with no one to hand off to. The rest of the relay runners showed up by 8:30. I ran my race after getting my baton, but had to pay $35 in cab fair to return to my car. Not a long distance, but delays in exiting Tempe racked up the fair. Don't promise shuttles for the runners if you don't plan on having them. I will not run the relay ever again.

I was very disappointed with the parking organization for this race. I've run similar sized events before, so I knew what to expect and planned accordingly, but I literally waited over an hour to go 1 mile upon exiting the freeway (and this is in following the directions/timing provided by the RnR instructions). Many were in my predicament; ended up starting the race an hour after the official start. NOT a fun way to start the day.

Did anybody doing the marathon find the miles far off? Everything was fine until mile 4. I think it was measured from the 5k mark...so technically it was 4.1 miles. I was like 30 seconds slower through that mile and definitely didn't slow down. All the other miles were fine, but makes me wonder if it ws 26.3 miles that everybody ran. Just curious to hear other comments on this.

I have run all 9 of the RNRAZ marathons & this was by far the worst!

It started with the logistics to get runners to the start by light rail. They did not plan for 8,000 runners with 300 per light rail train to get to the start by 7:30 a.m. Due to this 'smart' move, the marathon started half an hour late while waiting for runners to arrive at the start. Had this been a normal January day in Phoenix, it could have been ugly. As it turned out we had a cloud cover all day & the heat stayed at bay.

The course is by far the ugliest course I have run (have completed 69 marathons). With so many beautiful areas in the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe area, surely they could have come up with a more scenic course. Not to mention, the streets from mile 21 to 23 were severely alligatored and in serious need of re-paving. You had to focus on the pavement so you didn't trip on the elevated sections of the pavement. I live in the Phoenix area and was actually scared to run parts of this course as there are portions I won't even drive in my car unless the doors are locked and there is no other option.

The course did highlight several dated strip malls and older industrial areas. Running through the Arcadia area was nice but the course from that point on was a major disappointment. The course change was definitely not for the better. I would have preferred running up the hill on McDowell Road and down through the Phoenix Zoo and Botanical Garden area than past the postal sorting facility on Van Buren.

The water was pumped from the fire hydrants and tasted worse than the normal Phoenix tap water. It made me gag and it was hard to get the nasty taste out of your mouth. After trying to drink it at a couple of aid stations, I gave up, stopped at a convenience store and bought a bottle of water.

Rock N Roll? Where? Only five bands on the course for the full marathon, in past years we had a band at least every two miles. What a shame, with all the musical talent in the metro Phoenix area to not showcase them in an event like this.

The volunteers were great and several apologized for the nasty water. There was very little crowd support. Not that I need it but sad to see after the great community support of past years.

I parked at the start to avoid the mess getting to the start. However, it took over an hour for the return trip on the light rail to the start to get my car. Glad I didn't have to try and catch a flight.

Competitor is clearly focusing on the half marathon and short changing the full marathon. The full is definitely treated as an after thought. This event is so geared toward the half marathon one wonders why even bother with the full - unless of course, it is just a way for them to make more money. With so many other great marathons within the metro Phoenix area, you can avoid this over-priced and over-hyped one. I highly recommend doing so.

Well I qualified for Boston but they didn't record my time so now I am left stressed out waiting to see if they can resolve it. Also, I don't think they could have found an uglier part of Phoenix to run through especially around miles 21-24. Surprised the local CVB's support the race, would have hated to travel to run this race. The wave start is awesome as you start running rather than being stuck in a crazy crowd which is nice.

RnR races continue to have their issues (and most are inexcusable), but this one seems to go on without many hitches. As expected, with using light rail for the first time to transport runners, there were hiccups and the race was delayed about 30 minutes. Hopefully this gets ironed out. Starting a race on time is important, and more so in a sunny climateanytime you push a race later into the day, you're at risk for heat and hydration issues. Thankfully, we had cloud cover pretty much start-to-finish.

As always, packet pick-up was easy. Expo had everything you'd expect. Race shirt was quality Brooks tech tee. Pre-race village had water, etc. Bag drop was easy. Corrals were easy to enter. Race path was wide and flat; water stops were long and aided w/friendly folks. They also had two gels stops along course and folks handed out pretzels and orange slices. Plenty of port-o-johns on course, too. New course went through nice neighborhoods with nice downhill stretches added. Spectators were mostly at corners only and bands were less numerous than usual (but they were great). Miles 22-24 were quiet and went through industrial area and had a few long uphill climbs but nothing challenging. Finish line area was very good. Post-race area was under solar-panel ramada that shaded entire area. Post-race food was generous; smoothies, energy bars, frozen yogurt, bagels, fruit, drinks, etc. Gear-bag pick-up was close by. Medal was good as always. Half and full course are separate and end in adjacent/separate areasabout 3800 in full, 16000 in half.

Cool, cloudy 60-degree weather helped but normally you'll need sunglasses for this race. Both courses almost completely flat. Some parking and transport issues still to iron out but this RnR race still the best of all their events by far.

Pleasantly surprised by what competitor group put together here. As usual they focus mainly on the expo and post race party, but the course they had this year was good. It's point to point and flat through 22, then a couple large overpasses getting to the finish.

Marathon distance is clearly an after thought if you're into the bands and entertainment. There were more bands on the half course than the full. And spectators really only in a few places (anywhere there was a turn, otherwise quiet). I don't care much for all those bells and whistles (literally), so I enjoyed it, but if you like a crowd maybe this isn't for you.

I will give it to them on post race. The chute was easy to navigate and the concert venue in sun angel stadium was perfect. Easy to get to, comfortable grass infield. Really enjoyed it for a change.

Big piece of advice: take a cab to the start an from the finish. It adds a few bucks to the trip but everyone I know who parked said it was a mess.